Transcript Strategy and Change in the Public Sector

Strategy and Change
in the Public Sector:
The Internal and
External Environment.
Kevin Hinde
Organisational Highs, Lows and
Themes Exercise
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Brainstorm your Organisations Highs and
Lows over the past x years.
Examples might include: budget issues,
schools closure, loss of significant
personnel, innovations, etc.
How high were the highs? How low were
the lows? Put them on the following
chart….
Organisational Highs, Lows and
Themes Exercise
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Highs
Lows
Now
Which of these were
Opportunities and which
were Threats?
What were your strengths
In dealing with your
Opportunities and threats?
What were your weaknesses?
Organisational Highs, Lows and
Themes Exercise
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What opportunities have we had? Which have we taken
advantage of, which were we unable to take advantage of,
and which have we ignored?
What threats have we had to deal with? Which have we
handled successfully, which unsuccessfully, and which have
we ignored?
What strengths have we relied upon to deal with the threats
and to take advantage of the opportunities? Which have we
ignored?
What weaknesses have we had in dealing with threats and
opportunities? What have been done about them?
Can you see patterns or themes of SWOT over time?
How would you like to carry this forward?
The External Environment
Short term assessment of the
external environment
PEST or STEP or PESTEL or
STEEPLE
Political
Technological
The
Organisation
Social
Economic
Activity
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Consider the opportunities and threats that your organisation faces
in the next few years. Can you divide them into
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Social
Technological
Economic
Environmental
Political
Legal
Ethical
Now score each opportunity and threat within each category. Zero is
low and 2 is high. Some will fall into a number of categories and you
may wish to weight some opportunities and threats higher than
others – I’ll leave you to decide this.
Where are the biggest opportunities and threats? Are they political,
economic, or something else?
Strengths, Competences and
Core Competences
Competences and Core
Competences
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Organisational strengths or Competences exist in activities
Resources are deployed to create strengths/competences
Only some competences are core. Many are generic.
Think about yourself. Your general features are common to nearly all
humans but you have certain inherited characteristics and learned
behaviours ( including your style of social relationships) that make
you unique.
Our place in society can be determined by our uniqueness (though
other factors such as chance and power are important).
We have some influence on our uniqueness through the
relationships we develop and investments in assets such as training
and education.
Competences and Core
Competences
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Core competences underpin organisational effectiveness
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They are difficult for others to imitate and so are unique to the
activity. To be of value they must be effectively deployed.
They may be found in people, teams, partnerships, networks,
structures and systems. The sum of the whole is greater than the
individual parts.
They may be used to reduce cost, add value (through innovation,
quality enhancement, etc) and signify appropriate culture.
Core competences can be adopted to strategies and added to
e.g. through the hire of individuals with qualities that add value
to the service, through the effective re-training of staff, through
developing partnerships/alliances, etc.
Activity. Core competences
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What are your departments/organisations core
competences?
Consider an activity and list the resources, people
(they may be teams or partners) and skills
associated with it.
Does it work well or not?
How do you know?
What underpins its effectiveness?
Can it be improved?
If so in what ways?
Competences from Partnerships
Types of partnership (i)
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Cooperation usually describes an informal
sharing relationship, such as two agencies
providing referrals for each other or sharing
information about learner needs. Agencies
that cooperate ordinarily do not make joint
decisions or provide services together, but
they do communicate in order to limit
duplication of services
Padak and Sapin, Collaboration: Working Together To Support Adult Learners
available at http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0400-11.pdf
Types of partnership (ii)
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Coordination refers to a more highly developed
association in which organizations or agencies
have informal agreements about programme
development and in-kind contributions but do not,
as a rule, commit money and other resources to
one another. Nevertheless, coordinated
associations are generally more formal and better
defined than cooperative arrangements.
Types of partnership (iii)
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Collaboration is reserved for organisations that
join together to create a new entity. Together these
organizations work to accomplish a shared vision
by building an interdependent system to address
issues and opportunities. Ordinarily the agencies
involved sign formal agreements that address
determination of goals, problem - solving
processes, areas of authority financing, and other
issues related to the governance of the new entity.
Example:Northumberland Strategic
Partners
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Alnwick District Council
Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough
Council
Blyth Valley Borough Council
Business Link for Northumberland
Castle Morpeth Borough Council
Community Council of
Northumberland
Environment Agency
Government Office for the North East
Jobcentre Plus
National Parks Association
North East Chamber of Commerce
Northern Trades Union Congress
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Northumberland Association of Local
Councils
Northumberland County Council
Northumberland Care Trust
Northumberland National Park
Authority
Learning & Skills Council
Local Strategic Partnerships
Northumbria Police
One NorthEast (RDA)
South East Northumberland North
Tyneside Regeneration Initiative
Tynedale District Council
Wansbeck District Council
NSP Structure
http://www.nsp.org
Activity: Partnerships and
competence.
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Consider a partnership with which you are
familiar. How did it develop?
What are it’s goals?
What factors promote the collaboration?
What factors hinder it?
Is it a success or failure? Why? What are
the key strengths and weaknesses? Are
your strengths complimentary?
Factors promoting collaboration
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Perception that the collaboration is
needed
Benefits outweigh the costs
Positive attitudes
Consensus between administrators and
staff
Players see each other as valuable
sources/resources
Ability to maintain program identity,
prestige, and power
Reward system for staff who reinforce
the collaboration
Accessibility to other organizations
Positive evaluations of other
organizations and their Staff
Similarity or overlap in resources and
goals
Common commitment to clients
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Common definitions, ideologies,
interests, and approaches
Good history of relations
Procedures have been standardized
across organizations
Occupational diversity of staff that is
complementary
Leaders favour the collaboration
Chances exist for regular contact and
exchange of information
Existence of boundary-crossing roles
Compatibility or similarity of
organizations structures
Factors hindering collaboration
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Vested interest of program or other
agencies
Perception of threat, competition for
resources or client
Perception of loss of programme
identity
Perception of loss of prestige or role as
“authority”
Lower service effectiveness
Alienation of some learners
Inability to serve new learners who
would be drawn to the programme
Differing leadership styles
Differing professional background of
staff
Disparities in staff training
Difference in priorities, ideologies,
outlooks, or goals for clients
Lack of a common “language”
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Staff members don’t favour the
collaboration
Negative evaluations of other
organizations
Imperfect knowledge of other agencies
in the community
Poor history of relations
Costs (resources, staff time) outweigh
benefits
Lack of communication among higher
level staff
Bureaucracies that inhibit internal,
external communication
Centralization of authority, “red tape”
Little staff time devoted to boundarycrossing roles
Differences in priorities, goals, tasks
High staff turnover
Other organizations have little to offer
Successful partnerships require..
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Communication
Adequate Resources
Proper Planning
Shared Values and Goals
Participation
Leadership
Flexibility
Trust and Respect
Remember
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Collaboration is not an easy, quick, fix-all solution to societal
problems.
Collaboration should not be a programmes ultimate goal but
rather a tool used to serve clients.
Interagency collaboration is time-consuming and processintensive and should only be attempted when the potential
benefits are significant.
Institutions do not collaborate – people do. Time must be
provided, and staff members must be rewarded for their
participation and effort in the collaboration.
Collaboration must be engaged in holistically: creative,
effective, and real solutions to shared problems will ensure
the longevity of a partnership.
Activity. Partnerships/Teams
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Use the following sheet to evaluate your
team or external partnership that you are
familiar with.
Score your answers to each statement on a
1 – 5 scale (5 = excellent, 4 = Good, 3 =
Average, 2 = Room for Improvement, 1 =
Poor)
Core Business
Introduction
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Pressure on the public sector to perform
more economically, efficiently and
effectively.
Purchaser Provider split, contracting out
4 Cs (Challenge, Compare, Compete,
Consult), Best Value, CPA.
Questions
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Why should the ownership of the
organisation matter if society is faced with
the inefficient and ineffective provision of
public services?
What is it about present public provision
that gives it the right to continue in that
activity?
What is Core Business in Public
services?
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What functions should be carried out by
Public services?
Can you identify activities that are core and
peripheral within your own organisation?
Do your strengths/core competences reflect
the core or peripheral activities?
Long Term Environmental
Assessment
Futures Methods
1
Choose a Panel of Experts
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Phrase the questions or issues, or
describe the possible futures on
which an opinion has to be sought
1a
Consult experts on
questions, issues and
possible futures to be
considered
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Panelists, individually and anonymously, express
their views on the questions or issues, or on the
likelihood of the different futures.
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Results are collate and summarised.
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Results are fed back to the
panelists. No individual views
are capable of identification.
6a
Repeat steps 4, 5
and 6 if necessary
to reach
consensus.
6
Panelists submit revised
views
7
Results are written up,
conclusions drawn
6b
If necessary, ask those
who still hold extreme
views to feed in,
anonymously, the
reasons for their views.
The Delphi Technique
Source: Smith (1994)
p.67
The Long Term Scenario
Overview of scenarios
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Assumptions:
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The future is unlike the past and is shaped by
human choice and action.
The future cannot be foreseen but exploring the
future can inform present decisions
There are many possible futures, scenarios map
a ‘possibility space’
Scenario development involves rational analysis
and subjective judgement.
Scenarios and Change
Process Required
Rationale
For Scenario
http://www.chforum.org/methods/scenario_taxonomy.html
The Scenario Development Process
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Assess the readiness of the organisation. Analyse the threats
and opportunities in the future.
Develop the drivers. A steeple Analysis
Assess the drivers. Review them and prioritise.
Carry out an Uncertainty/Dependency Review. Use those
drivers that are both uncertain and dominant to form the
basis of scenarios.
Develop the scenarios using plausible stories of the future.
Remember there is no ‘right’ scenario. They provide ways of
thinking about uncertain futures in a turbulent world.
Scenario Development: An
illustration
http://www.foresight.gov.uk/servlet/Controller/ver%3D850/DTI_FF_web.pdf
Foresight scenarios: 2010-2030
Interdependence
World
Markets
Global
Sustainability
Conventional
Development
Community
Individual
National
Enterprise
Local
Stewardship
Autonomy
World markets
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People aspire to personal independence, material
wealth and mobility to the exclusion of wider social
goals. Integrated global markets are presumed to
be the best way to deliver this. Internationally
coordinated policy sets framework conditions for
the efficient functioning of markets. The provision
of goods and services is privatised wherever
possible under a principle of ‘minimal government’.
Rights of individuals to personal freedoms are
enshrined in law.
National Enterprise
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People aspire to personal independence and
material wealth within a nationally rooted cultural
identity. Liberalised markets together with a
commitment to build capabilities and resources to
secure a high degree of national self-reliance and
security are believed to best deliver these goals.
Political and cultural institutions are strengthened
to buttress national autonomy in a more
fragmented world.
Global Responsibility
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People aspire to high levels of welfare within
communities with shared values, more equally
distributed opportunities and a sound
environment. There is a belief that these
objectives are best achieved through active public
policy and international cooperation within the EU
and at a global level. Social objectives are met
through pubic provision, increasingly at an
international level. Markets are regulated to
encourage competition among national players.
Personal and social behaviour is shaped by
commonly-held beliefs and assumptions.
Local Stewardship
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People aspire to sustainable levels of welfare in
federal and networked communities. Markets are
subject to social regulation to ensure more equally
distributed opportunities and a high quality local
environment. Active public policy aims to promote
economic activities that are small scale and
regional in scope and acts to constrain large scale
markets and technologies. Local communities are
strengthened to ensure participative and
transparent governance in a complex world.
Auditing the Future: Bryson (pps.
87- 89)
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Social and organisational complexity.
Privatisation and the consequent interaction among
public, private and non-profit organisations.
Continuation of technological change.
Limited public sector resources and Growth.
Diversity of of the Workforce, customer base, and
citizenry.
Individualism, personal responsibility, and community
involvement.
Quality of life and environmentalism.
Transitions with continuity, not revolution.
Public Services in
2015?
TRENDS
PERCEPTIONS
TECHNOLOGY
COMPETITION
DEMOGRAPHY
SCENARIOS
RESOURCE
SCARCITY
ECONOMIC
AWARENESS
Re-emphasis on the nature of
public service delivery
Re-positioning of public
service functions
POLITICAL
DYNAMIC
NEW
POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS
EUROPE
CONSUMERISM
(ANTIMONOPOLY)
REGULATORY
EXPANSION
Scenarios for Public Services: Based on work by past students
Activity. Scenario Planning
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Using the method described in ‘A Futurists
Toolbox’ pps. 13-22 draw up some working
scenarios for Northumberland County Council in
2018.
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/su/toolbox.pdf
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/su/understanding.pdf
http://www.strategy.gov.uk/output/Page696.asp